Printed in the National Post
Sat Nov 7 2009
Page: A15
Section: Canada
Byline: Lee Greenberg
Source: Canwest News Service

Unadjuvanted vaccine, a less potent form of the H1N1 flu vaccine that, until now, was given exclusively to pregnant women, will now be distributed to the broader population in Ontario, it was announced yesterday.

Ontario's next shipment of H1N1 flu vaccine will include 462,000 doses of the unadjuvanted vaccine, but only 115,000 pregnant women need the shots.

The difference is forcing provincial heath authorities to reconsider their plan in "real-time," officials said yesterday.

At a news conference in Toronto yesterday, officials said the general public does not need to worry they will be less well-protected by the unadjuvanted vaccine, despite worrying information posted on a federal government website.

"Frankly, the data coming out, and this is being reviewed now, is that there really isn't a lot of difference in healthy people in terms of the immune response that is generated by the unadjuvanted vaccine," said Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's chief medical officer of health.

The Public Health Agency of Canada website states "studies show that even the best unadjuvanted flu vaccines only protect six out of 10 people who get the shot."

"Experts believe an adjuvanted flu vaccine could boost protection rates to as high as nine in 10," the agency states on an online FAQ page.

Adjuvanted vaccine contains a substance that boosts an individual's immune system and improves their response to that vaccine. The unadjuvanted version lacks that "booster" element.

Dr. Vivek Goel, a top public health official in the province, said Ontario residents inoculated with the unadjuvanted vaccine should not consider themselves shortchanged.

"The United States is using unadjuvanted vaccine," he said. "So we shouldn't be worried about the response profile that much."

In the meantime, a second person has been fired by Alberta Health Services for involvement in the decision to give the Calgary Flames and their families the H1N1 vaccine last week.

Also yesterday, news emerged that the top 200 donors at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital have already been inoculated, while board members of Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital were offered H1N1 flu shots at a regularly scheduled board of governors meeting on Oct. 26.

"The message this is sending is that the wealthy and influential should be treated first, even if it means pregnant women and children must be made to wait," said Pat Chastang, a spokeswoman for the union representing 46,000 health care workers in Ontario.

Service Employees International Union Local 1 Canada urged all 65 of Mount Sinai's board members to resign. "The most important quality of a board member are their ethics and their integrity. Clearly, jumping the queue was a mistake," Ms. Chastang said.